Which Social Welfare Payment is Right?

[Iveagh1]

Briefly I was on Lone Parents Allowance for 2 years and worked part-time I had a great opportunity to go full time two years ago and took it and stopped receiving Lone Parents Allowance. This job, which i love, unfortunately reduced our wages by 20% in February and is now putting us on a 3 day week from start of November. I have been told that instead of seeking unemployment benefit I should reapply for Lone Parents Allowance and FIS or just FIS as I would be better off in the long run - I am not sure if this is possible - I would be earning less than the guidelines for both payments from November - if anyone has any advice it would be greatly appreciated

 

[gipimann]

You can apply for both FIS and One Parent Family Payment which will most likely be better than 3 days Jobseeker's Benefit.

OPFP is means-tested based on your wages.

The application for FIS will assess your OPFP payment and your wages when determining entitlement.

 

[Iveagh1]

Thanks for your reply. I had a look at the Department's website and it seemed to read that you have to apply for the one parent family payment within three months of becoming eligible. So maybe that would prevent me going for that payment - just wish that I didnt have to be thinking about going back to Social Welfare again but in my line there is nothing else out there at the moment. Again thanks for your reply i will look into matters again.

 

[gipimann]

You will be eligible to apply for One Parent Family Payment from November (when your circumstances change), so you'll have 3 months from then to apply.

The time limit means that if a person applies outside the 3 month timeframe, they would only be paid from the date of application, not the date they became eligible to apply.